Sonic Boom: A Heart of Data
by Pikatwig
Summary: After a break-up, Tails isn't exactly in the best of moods. After returning home, he finds a handheld in his garbage and repairs it. What happens next? ...not exactly the best description. One-Shot. Set in Sonic Boom universe. TailsXNicole, Minor SonicXOC


(Please note: Story was completed June 12th)

SZ: Hey minna. *hears knock at door* Hmm? Who is it? *opens up door*

Pikatwig: Hey. *walks in and sits down* Got something posted and it took a while… honestly, I feel like doing something a bit… different. *notices some papers on a desk* Oh? Some character notes?

SZ: Yeah. Just something I've been tinkering with.

Pikatwig: I see… so… I see you changed Clover into a cat… and that's all I've seen.

SZ: Yeah...but enough of that for right now. Time for a new story...or rather, one-shot. *looks at the readers* you see, it's been a long time since I've worked on anything Sonic related. But after watching some Comic dramas, which are issues of the Archie Sonic comics dubbed over, on youtube, I've gotten back into the Sonic mood.

Pikatwig: Wish I could have KKD sorta be like that. I had a Sonic idea and I rolled it by him… it went kind of nowhere.

SZ: Ouch...well let's fix that. *turns back to the readers* As you all know from my Azure Rebellion story, I'm a fan of the Archie Sonic comics.

Pikatwig: I kind of am too, but I'll admit, the reboot did sort of make me cry a little at some characters we lost in the transition. Amongst them are Leeta, Lyco… Shard… uh… Julie-Su… and uh… Sonic's mom and dad...

SZ: *sighs* Don't remind me...but there is one character I'm glad is gone…*frowns* Geoffrey St. John.

Pikatwig: There is a slim chance he could come back, he was actually an unused Season 3 SatAM character. Again, very slim chance.

SZ: Right..moving onto something positive. Now...out of all the characters that have appeared in the comics, one of my all time faves is Nicole. You see...when I was growing up, I loved to watch the Sonic SataM cartoons...and when I got back into the comics and saw Nicole in her physical body, I said 'That's Nicole?!'

Pikatwig: Yeah… I'll admit, Nicole is interesting a character. She was one interesting thing from SatAM. ...I'll admit, not my personal favorite Sonic cartoon, but it was good.

SZ: Hai. Still...when I first saw Nicole in a physical body...I...I couldn't believe she went from this…*shows a pic of Nicole in her handheld* to this!*shows Nicole in her holo-lynx/lynx form*

Pikatwig: Yeah… surprising to say the least.

SZ: Yeah...and as the comics went on, she became an instant favorite of mine.

Pikatwig: She became endearing. And her struggle after the whole Iron Nicole mess was kind of heart tugging. I honestly remember crying when I first found out the council voted her outta New Mobotropolis.

SZ: hai….you can thank Naugus for that...manipulative B*yay*stard.

Pikatwig: Yeah. ...and honestly, I was hoping we would've never seen him again after the reboot, but nope, he's involved in the next Sonic Universe arc… whenever the heck that is coming out.

SZ:...what? I'm sorry, but I think I heard you just said Naugus is gonna come back.

Pikatwig: He is. He was at the end of one issue, I forget which, alongside his sister who was a character inspired from one of Tails' games.

SZ:...

Pikatwig: ...Eggman will more than likely be giving him his just deserts.

SZ:...I hope so...but we're getting off track. You see, the point here is I want to work on a one-shot involving Nicole, and Tails. But here's the catch. It's gonna take place in the Sonic Boom universe/Zone.

Pikatwig: Wonder how that world has been, we haven't seen it in a while. Well… I guess we're gonna find out.

SZ: Yeah...quick disclaimer. Neither of us own the Sonic series, nor the characters belonging to said series. If OCs appear, they belong to their respective owners.

* * *

It was one day on Eggman's secret lair, the evil doctor was hard at work with a program of sorts.

-Dr. Eggman, whatcha doing?- Orbot inquired.

"Shush it! I'm in the middle of something that requires my focus," Eggman told Orbot, his eyes focused on a small, handheld like device.

-Isn't that what you said about those nano-machines you were working on, and forgot the next day?- Orbot pointed out.

"...Ignoring," Eggman snorted as he continued to work on the handheld, "Yes… yes… in just a few more minutes, I will have an artificial intelligence that will analyze every move Sonic and his little friends make, and with that, I can give the info to all of my robots and they'll be unstoppable! Ohohohoh!"

-...I see...but why a handheld?- Orbot asked.

"Have you ever tried fitting a laptop into your pocket? It's very difficult," Eggman deadpanned.

-Why not make it a cellphone then?-

"I swore off cellphones after that one game…"

* * *

 _Eggman was playing a game on his phone, and he was close to beating it._

" _Come on...almost th-NO!" Eggman screamed, "No! I was so close! No no...I...wait," he moved the phone close to see the text, "...Pay to continue?! What kind of game is this?!"_

 _-I think it's a Freemium game-_

" _Shut it!" Eggman growled as he took out a laser blaster and disintegrated the phone._

 _-You do know you'll still need to pay the phone bill for this month.-_

" _Don't make me disintegrate you too," Eggman warned._

* * *

"But enough about that. once I'm done with this, I'll be unstoppable!" Eggman declared, "Now...just to adjust a few wires here a-"

-Hey, boss! I got that smoothie you wanted!- Cubot shouted as he zipped into the room -It's extra foamy, just how you…!-

Cubot tripped on a power chord and the smoothie went tumbling out of his hand. Time seemed to slow down as the contents began to spill all over a box labeled 'nano-machines', and the handheld Eggman was working on.

"..."

-...Cubot?-

-Yeah?-

-...You might want to start running-

Eggman growled in anger, proceeding to pick up a wrench from nearby.

* * *

Orbot looked in agitation as Cubot's head was now attached onto his body, the cube shaped bot just blinked in confusion.

"All my hard work...down the drain! Just like that!" Eggman snapped, "It took me weeks to make it, and now it's ruined!"

-What are you gonna do with it boss?- Cubot asked.

"It's unsalvageable because of you idiots! I need to take my mind off of this, I'm going to Meh Burger!"

* * *

At said restaurant, Sonic and Amy were both there with a dejected looking Tails.

"I can't believe Zooey moved away…" Tails sighed sadly, "Did...I do something wrong?"

"Things like this happen, buddy," Sonic told him, patting the twin-tailed fox on the back, "It's just a part of life."

"Yeah, but why did it have to happen to me?" Tails groaned. The fox thunked his head against the table, and somebody happened to walk over to the table as he did so.

"Mind scooting over? There aren't any open tables." the fox was asked, causing the group to turn and see a certain mad scientist standing there.

"Eggman! What are you doing here?!" Sonic demanded to know.

"What? Am I not allowed to eat here?"

"Considering you try and destroy us and the town on a daily bases…" Amy began.

"Don't answer that," Eggman interrupted her, "But seriously. Mind scooting over? I've had a bad day, and need something to help calm my nerves."

"You're not the only one who's had a bad day," Tails responded, scooting over a bit.

"...What's wrong with him?" Eggman asked as he sat down.

"Zooey moved away from the island, and Tails misses her," Amy informed.

Eggman took a look at Tails for a moment before he proceeded to scoot over a chocolate shake, "Take it. You need it more than me right now."

"..."

"...what? I'm not _that_ evil," Eggman stated, noticing the looks Sonic and Amy were giving him.

"It was his advice that got Zooey to like me in the first place," Tails added as he took the shake, "Thanks Eggman. I owe ya a shake."

"No problem," Eggman nodded.

* * *

Meanwhile, a few Egg Pawns hurried over to the house where Tails lived.

-This is where Sonic T. Hedgehog lives, right?- one asked.

-I believe so, yes-

-Good. Eggman said to dump it in his trash- the first one stated as they dumped the device in Tails' garbage.

* * *

"Given what I just learned, I shall not attempt to destroy you today Tails," Eggman informed, "The rest of your friends… fair game. You? Not today."

"Thanks," Tails nodded as he continued to drink the shake.

"...strange seeing you act this n-" Sonic began before he heard Amy snapping in annoyance and anger near the counter, "...hold on. Gotta stop Amy from maiming Dave...again."

"Got her order wrong again?"

"Yup."

"Well, I'm going to issue an attack now," Eggman informed as he pressed a button on his wrist system, causing a few Badniks to appear as they started attacking the town. A few Buzzbombers approached Tails, making Eggman's eyes widen, "Hold on a sec! Gotta turn off the setting to have them attack you…"

With a few presses of a button, the Badniks proceeded to move away from Tails.

"Better."

"...Why don't you head on home, Tails?" Sonic suggested, "Me and Amy will handle things from here."

"Alright, I guess," Tails nodded, "Call me with the results of the fight."

* * *

Tails simply continued to drink his shake as he walked back to his place. While it was kinda nice of Eggman to give him this, the twin-tailed fox was still a bit sad that Zooey moved away. He honestly just wanted to do something with his time, but had nothing to do.

"...Maybe some upgrades to the Tornado will help cheer me up," the twin-tailed fox whispered to himself, finishing his shake as he was almost at his place.

"Hey Tails!" Knuckles shouted, getting the twin-tailed fox's attention as he saw the echidna walking out of the garage, "Hope you don't mind, but I borrowed the Tornado… and things got a bit messy,"

"So that's, what, the third or fourth time that plane has crashed?" Tails grumbled. Knuckles was a good guy...at times, but he tended to mess things up...a lot. Both Knuckles and Sticks were the two most irritating people that Tails knew… not that he'd ever say that to their faces.

"Yeah...sorry. Wanted to impress the ladies, but wasn't paying attention and…" Knuckles began.

"Let me guess; you ended up crashing it into a few trees?" Tails asked.

"...Are you psychic or something?" Knuckles asked, the bulky echidna looking to Tails with wide eyes.

Tails simply walked away, rubbing the bridge of his nose to quell down his incoming headache as he walked into the garage.

"...eh. I'll ask again later," Knuckles shrugged, "Might as well go eat at Meh Burger."

* * *

"...Knuckles…" Tails' eye twitches violently as he looked at his plane...or rather, what used to be it, ' _Note to self; build an anti-Knuckles defense system for the garage when I'm not here.'_

Taking a deep breath, he began to pick up some of the parts scattered around the floor. There was nearly nothing salvageable from what Knuckles did to the plane, much to Tails' anger. He was just glad Sticks didn't help him 'borrow' the plane, otherwise there wouldn't be anything left.

"...This is gonna take a week to fix," Tails sighed as he walked outside to the trash, only to see it was already full, "...Grr."

* * *

"KNUCKLES!-!-!"

"Ahh!" Knuckles yelped a bit from the sudden scream, "What was that?!"

* * *

"I swear I… he… UGH!" Tails groaned loudly, the fox pretty annoyed at the bulky echidna right now, "...Ugh...let's see what else he broke."

With that, he began to rummage through the trash, seeing his laptop had a boomerang shoved through it, his camera was broken in half with only the film roll connecting it, his games smashed into pieces with a few having bite marks on them, and his handheld was wet with soda and…

"..Wait a minute...I don't own a handheld," Tails blinked as he looked back over at the handheld. From what he could tell, it looked new...ish before whoever owned it ended up spilling something on it. He also noted a few pieces of something, probably from the handheld, right around where it had been lying, "...Why would anyone throw this away? It looks like it can be repaired no problem."

* * *

"You two broke into Tails' house and did… what exactly?" Sonic asked Knuckles and Sticks.

"Knuckles borrowed his plane while I was looking through his stuff," Sticks replied, "I was making sure there weren't anything suspicious inside them."

' _You think everything is suspicious,'_ Sonic thought in slight annoyance as he looked at Knuckles next, "Seriously, Knucks? You're still taking Tails' things without his permission?"

"Hey. I left a note this time!" Knuckles argued.

"Which I took to interrogate about the evil plan paper is planning. No luck getting info out of it," Sticks added.

"..."

"Sticks….I...ugh," Amy sighed, "You two need to leave Tails alone for the rest of the day, okay?"

"Why?" Knuckles and Sticks responded.

"Zooey left and what you two did likely didn't help his mood," Sonic stated.

"Oh…Question. Who's...Zooey again?" Knuckles asked, causing Sonic and Amy to groan as they facepalmed, "...What?"

"...I think I liked the other Knuckles from that other dimension who wasn't as buff as you," Sticks mumbled as she headed off.

* * *

Tails looked at the handheld, simply seeing that it was fixable, but he needed some tools that Knuckles and Sticks had damaged. He headed for a store owned by a polar bear and his two brothers, a panda and grizzly bear.

"Thanks," Tails said as he walked off, waving to the three brother bears. He soon walked passed two hedgewolves, a hedgefox and a hedgehog, giving a wave to the four of them as he headed back for home. While he was still a bit upset, at least he had something to do. In fact, he could probably upgrade that handheld into something new.

* * *

He soon returned and got to work on the handheld, the fox using a specially modified magnifying glass to help him look into the more tricky parts of it. As he did, it did look pretty advance inside. He was a bit impressed by this, but couldn't help but wonder why anyone would throw this out. In fact, he wondered who it belonged to exactly. No way it belonged to Knuckles and Sticks, and Sonic and Amy aren't as tech savvy as he was.

"...I guess somebody thought it would be best if I fixed it," Tails figured, carefully placing one of the spare parts on the handheld, "...Still, this is pretty interesting. Heck, I can probably pull an all nighter, and it'll be fixed in no time."

A small light on the screen flickered, but it vanished almost as soon as it appeared.

* * *

-Welcome home, Dr Eggman. Have you calmed down any?- Orbot asked as Eggman came back home, his clothes covered in soot and burn marks.

"Slightly, yes," Eggman replied, dusting his clothes off, "Decided to give Tails a break while I tried to destroy Sonic."

-Huh? why? I thought…- Cubot began.

"Poor kid was having a bad day, and I decided to cut him a break," Eggman responded, "But enough about that. Tell me you disposed the trash at Sonic's place."

-We sure did. The EggPawns left it in the trash just as you wanted- Orbot nodded.

"Good. I need a good laugh, and pranking Sonic is just the key," Eggman smirked as he sat down on his couch.

-Yup. We left it right in front of the garage he keeps his plane in- Cubot added.

"..."

-Uh...Cubot. Sonic doesn't have a garage- Orbot pointed out, -Or a plane.

-Oh...then who's trash did we leave it in?- Cubot blinked in confusion.

"...Whatever. It's no longer my problem," Eggman waved him off.

* * *

Later that night, around midnight most likely, Tails was was greatly tired as he continued to work on fixing the handheld. He was really sleepy, but he wasn't going to rest until he fixed this thing.

"Just...a few more…" Tails paused as he yawned, "Parts, and I'll have fixed this."

He twisted in a few more parts in place, his eyes starting to grow heavy as he nearly fell asleep, the fox quickly shaking his head as he picked one more part up.

"Al...most...one more...part…" Tails whispered, placing the last of the pieces in the handheld's databoard before he closed it and screwed the front back on tight, "There...it's done...it...is...fi…"

He couldn't finished his sentence as his head hit the table, exhaustion finally catching up to him as he fell asleep, a content smile on his face. As he slept, the screen on the handheld flashed on for a moment. Data began to flow from the handheld's screen as it began to form into a figure, the darkened room hiding their appearance. The figure blinked a few times, looking around for a moment before looking down at the sleeping, twin-tailed fox. The figure gave a soft smile, grabbing a nearby tarp before placing it carefully on Tails, making sure not to wake him up. Once it was done, the figure became data once more as it went back into the handheld.

* * *

The next morning, Tails let out a long yawn as he began to wake up, stretching a bit as he rubbed his eyes.

"Man… haven't done an all nighter in a long time," Tails yawned, his eyes starting to open as he noticed the tarp on him ,"...What the? Did Sonic or Amy come in last night?...No no. They'd probably be asleep at that point. I was working until 12 or 1 before I finally feel asleep. But...then wh…? I'll figure it out later. Right now, I need to get to fixing the Tornado before I get something to eat."

* * *

Tails simply worked on the plane for most of the morning, using a few parts he had hidden just in case something like this would happen...which is always everytime Knuckles 'borrowed' the Tornado.

"Honestly, what I wouldn't do to get some help around here," Tails muttered as he tried to find a wrench, "...Ugh...where's that wrench?"

While he was busy searching for it, he was unaware of the handheld turning on, on it's own, as data flowed out of it, forming into a figure. The figure looked around for a moment, trying to find the object the fox was seeking before it spotted it right on top of a box. It then picked the wrench up and walked over to Tails, who was still looking for the item in question.

"Ugh… Knuckles, I swear if you or Sticks borrowed my wrench again…" Tails began in slight annoyance. The figure slowly put the wrench down and Tails finally picked it up, "Oh? It was right there? ...whoops. Guess I'm still waking up."

With that, he got back to fixing the Tornado, unaware of the figure staring at him a bit, almost like it was scanning him. The figure smiled softly as it continued to watch the fox work.

"...Even if nobody's listening to me, I guess I could say this," Tails shrugged, "I'm not so sure why I still do this. I mean, sure, Sonic's my best friend and we've been close for years, but Amy's a bit of a headache, Knuckles and Sticks are working my final nerves and fighting Eggman has been fun, but it's getting stale. I mean, there are times I want to act like a normal kid for a change, and not have to deal with Eggman constantly attacking me and my friends 24/7. I'm 11 years old and I've hardly been at school, not getting a chance to talk to kids my own age, especially that one rabbit I met one time...I wonder what ever happened to her?"

The figure said nothing as they continued to listen to Tails' little rant/speech.

"...Then again, I'd doubt I'd be able to talk to anyone without boring them," Tails said with a small sigh, "I mean...it's hard being smart, especially for someone my age. Heck, I wouldn't mind if they were a bit older than me. I just want someone to talk to normally."

The figure took note of this, making a notepad file on the handheld and began writing this down.

"...Though…" Tails paused as he blushed a little, "I wouldn't mind if they were pretty. Heck, they wouldn't have to be the same species as me. They'd be like...I don't know, a lynx or something."

The figure took a note of this again, thinking a bit.

"Maybe nice jet black hair and emerald green eyes…" Tails trailed off, "And they'd mostly wear purple with bits of black and white…"

The figure simply gave another nod as they wrote this info down.

"But I'm probably getting ahead of myself," Tails sighed a bit, wiping some sweat off his head, "I mean, I doubt there'd be anyone like that out there."

The figure tensed a bit as they became data once more and went back into the handheld just as Tails moved out from underneath the plane.

"...Might as well get something to eat before seeing how Sonic's doing," Tails said as he stood up. He headed out the door, before doubling back and picking up the handheld, "May as well show this to him."

* * *

"Coming coming…" Sonic yawned a bit as he walked towards the front door, "Who is it?"

"It's Tails. Can I come in?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, sure," Sonic nodded as he proceeded to open up the door and let Tails on in, "So what's up?"

"Not much. But I found this yesterday," Tails informed as he showed off the handheld.

"Huh… what is it?"

"Dunno. But I worked on it all night to fix it," Tails replied, "It looked pretty advanced, and I didn't want something like it to rot in the trash like that."

"I guess," Sonic shrugged as he sat down, before he proceeded to look at some letters, "My siblings are doing good."

"How many siblings do you have anyway?" Tails inquired as he also sat down

"Four," Sonic informed, "One of them is a famous performer, one of them is a thief, one of them is a cyborg and the last one… well… she's more than just a hedgehog, putting it simply,"

"And I noticed you and all of your siblings have five letters in your name, and two vowels in them," Tails added.

"True," Sonic nodded, "So… how's your sister?"

"Miyuki? Well, she's been busy with her own thing," Tails replied, "I don't tend to see her, unless it's a magazine."

"...Oh yeah. She's a model, right?" Sonic asked to make sure, "My youngest sister loves her and in her letters mentions she'd love to meet her. Maybe next time she's in town, you can arrange a meeting."

"I'll see what I can do," Tails nodded as he looked at the handheld, proceeding to make a note to remember to do that.

"Cool. Thanks, little buddy," Sonic smiled a bit.

Tails looked at some of the data on the handheld, seeing a few programs installed into it. Among them were a camera, a notepad, a communicator, a recorder, and a data log, which Tails saw had some data in it that seemed to be beyond what he wrote, but whatever it was, it was sealed.

"Hey, Sonic! Ya up yet!?" Knuckles' voice called from outside.

"Why don't you stay in here buddy?" Sonic suggested to Tails, "Also...you might want to hide that handheld. If Knuckles sees it…"

"...Good point," Tails nodded as he took a pillow and put the hand held under it. He watched as Sonic left, leaving the fox alone with the handheld as he took it out from under the pillow "Well… guess it's just you and me now."

He looked at it for a moment, searching through each of the programs installed. He could tell a lot of hard work went into this, making him further ponder who got rid of it.

"I wonder who would get rid of you…" he wondered, before noticing a sort of chat function. Tails proceeded to hover over it and click it, seeing a message on it.

-Hello?-

"...Uh...hi," Tails texted back, "Uh...who is this?"

-I am here on this handheld. ...as for who got rid of me? ...I don't know. I...don't remember-

"You don't remember?" Tails asked before blinking a bit, "Wait...you're in this handheld? How?"

-I am an artificial intelligence programmed onto here. As for why I do not remember… I cannot recall. My original memory bank was shorted out-

"Oh. ...I'm sorry," Tails responded.

-It is fine. You did repair me after all, and I am grateful for it-

"No problem," Tails smiled, "So...do you have a name?"

-I am afraid not.-

"Oh. ...well, let me give you one," Tails offered, "Hmm…How about I write down a list of names, and you choose the one that you like the most?"

-Sounds reasonable-

Tails began to write a few down, amongst them were Nokia, Mirei, Nia, Nicole, and May.

-I see you picked a lot of names that start with 'N' and 'M'-

"Eheh...well those're the ones that came into my head the most," Tails chuckled sheepishly.

-Regardless… I like the name Nicole-

"Cool," Tails nodded, "A pleasure to meet you then, Nicole."

-Thank you. And you are?-

"Miles Prower. But my friends like to call me Tails," Tails replied, "On...well…"

-Well what?-

"On account that I have two tails."

-That's interesting. I've looked up info on Mobians, and ones being born with multiple tails are pretty rare-

"I know," Tails nodded, "My sister has about nine of them."

-I see. Again, interesting- Nicole noted.

Tails fell silent as he looked at the handheld, his tails swaying a bit.

-...Is something the matter?-

"Uh… well… I dunno..." Tails trailed off.

-Please, let me know.-

"I guess it feels a bit… odd to be talking to a computer screen," Tails admitted.

-Ahh...I see. Perhaps I can fix that-

"Huh? How?"

-You'll see soon enough-

Tails blinked at that before suddenly, a volleyball came flying in from a window and nearly beaned him on the head, causing the fox to groan.

"Sorry! Spiked it too hard!" Knuckles called out from outside.

"You're paying to fix my window, knuckle-head," Sonic informed.

Tails groaned in anger at this as Sticks crashed in and tossed a boomerang into another window in the house, breaking it.

"..."

"What? Breaking windows is fun,"

"So you're that 'mad window smasher' that's been running around the village?" Amy asked.

"You have no proof," Stick retorted as she hopped out a broken window.

-...are you okay, Tails?- Nicole asked.

"Yeah. Just...ugh...Knuckles and Sticks are breaking stuff... _again_."

-...I sense you grow irritated real fast around those two. Care to explain why?-

"...Ugh. where do I begin?" Tails sighed, "Sticks is really paranoid, and thinks she's being watched/spied on by...I don't even remember anymore. Plus she tends to scream really loudly...a LOT. And Knuckles...oh don't me get started with him. He maybe my friend, but he keeps 'borrowing' my stuff and ends up breaking it! I was the one to teach him to write, count and read, but he keeps forgetting each one almost 24-7! Ugh! I honestly believe he was dropped on his head as a baby or something, because no one is that stupid!"

-...do you feel better getting that off your chest?- Nicole asked once Tails was done with his rant.

"Y-yeah…I am," Tails panted, "Those two annoy me so much, but I still don't get why I'm still friends with them."

-I see...well surely you see something good in them-

"...I guess," Tails shrugged.

* * *

Knuckles and Sticks were soon fixing Sonic's windows… or rather, doing more damage to what they already fixed, earning some groans from the blue hedgehog.

Sonic facepalmed when he saw Knuckles trying to use a nail to hammer in another nail.

"Knuckles, there's this novel thing called a hammer. You may wanna try using it…" Sonic informed, handing him one.

"Of course!" Knuckles nodded as he took the hammer and… proceeded to start banging the nail onto it.

"...Sticks, please tell me y-" Sonic began before he saw Sticks staring at the screwdriver in her hands, "...What're you doing?"

"This thing called me a fat chicken, so I'm having a staring contest with it," Sticks replied, her eyes not moving once as she stared at the tool.

Sonic proceeded to facepalm in agitation as he walked away, not wanting to deal with these two at the moment.

* * *

Tails simply stared at Nicole's handheld the twin-tailed fox simply curious what she was doing at the moment. She had been silent for quite some time now, and he was starting to become a bit worried. Did she need to be charged like a phone, or did she ended up freezing?

"...What's taking her so long?" Tails whispered as he looked at the blank screen.

"...I'm sorry," a voice called out, making him blink a bit, "I needed to add one last thing."

"Who-?" Tails began to ask as he turned around to see a brown, female lynx standing there. Tails blushed brightly as he looked at her.

She had on a purple tanktop with some light purple wraps around her waist while the bottom half seemed to split down, almost like a flower of sorts. Around her neck was a purple scarf with blue highlights that sort of looked like crystals. Underneath her 'skirt was a light pink smaller skirt. On her wrist and ankles, which were also covered in the same light purple wrappings were gold rings while the top of her hands and feet had what looked like small green gems, she also had a similar gem in the middle of her forehead. Lastly, she head semi-long neck length raven black hair with a few mini-pony tails hanging out the back, said pony tails being held together by what looked like beads, and a small gold ring.

"...Who…?"

"It's nice to meet you face to face, Tails," she greeted with a soft smile.

"Wait...how do you know my name?"

"You told me of course."

"Huh?" Tails blinked in confusion at that, the twin-tailed fox looking at the lovely lynx before him for a second, before his eyes started to slowly widen in realization, "Wait...Nicole?"

"Of course," the lynx nodded, "Who else would I be?"

"...you look… beautiful," Tails awed.

"Thank you. I designed this form based on what you told me after all, down to the last detail," Nicole replied.

Tails smiled as he walked over to her and held her hand, "...wow… how are you doing this?"

"Nanites."

"Huh?" Tails blinked at that as he stepped back a bit, "Nanites?"

"Yes," Nicole nodded as she held her hand out, causing it to turn into small bits of green data and such, "I'm not sure why, but I can control nanites to make myself a body and even use it in combat."

"Cool," Tails gawked.

Before either one of them could say another thing, a boomerang came flying in and bonked Nicole's head, causing the lynx to flinch as she held her sore forehead.

"Tails let a thief into your house!" Sticks yelled to Sonic as she ran in through another broken window, "And what's worse, she's a spy!"

"...Amy, can you help me fix my windows later?" Sonic grumbled off-screen.

"Can do," Amy nodded.

"Later! Deal with spy n-!" Sticks began before she was suddenly encased in a dome made of data, "Ahh!"

"She was hurting my ears…thanks for that, Nicole," Tails smiled.

"Of course," Nicole nodded, one of her hands giving off a faint green glow while she used her free hand to rub her slightly sore forehead, "Though I am unsure why she referred to me as a 'thief' and a 'spy'."

"She says almost everybody is a spy… as for thief… well, you did just sort of appear out of nowhere, so…" Tails shrugged.

"Fair enough point," Nicole responded, "Still...what should I do with the hyperactive badger, Tails? I'm afraid if I let her out, she'll start attacking me again."

"...dunno," Tails shrugged.

"Let go of Sticks, thief!" Knuckles yelled as he crashed in...through the wall.

"Darn it, Knuckles!" Sonic shouted off-screen.

"...I'm assuming that's 'Knuckles'?" Nicole asked.

"Yep,"

Nicole rolled her eyes, "I'm starting to see why y-"

"Not another word, thief…" Knuckles frowned as he walked over to her, the echidna towering over the lynx, "I just have one thing to say."

"...And what is that?"

"...give me a minute to remember it," Knuckles replied as he began tapping his chin a bit ,"I think it was 'your under arrest', or 'you want to go out with me'?"

Tails gave a growl as he seemed ready to attack Knuckles for that comment, grabbing a nearby wrench before Nicole slightly pushed Knuckles back a bit.

"Apologies, but I have done nothing wrong to warrant my arrest. Also...no. I'm afraid you'd end up crushing me or something," Nicole stated bluntly.

"...oh…" Knuckles blinked.

"SAVE ME!" Sticks yelled from inside the dome.

"Oh right!" Knuckles realized as he activated his Enerbeam, lassoed the dome and then made a run for it. However… the dome didn't seem to move as Knuckles just ran in place.

Sonic and Amy walked over, before they saw Nicole.

"Oh, who's this lovely lynx lady?" Sonic asked as he blurred right next to the lynx, earning a small growl from Amy, not that Sonic noticed.

"My name is Nicole. And I have something to tell you."

"What's that? Your phone number?"

"No. The female hedgehog's blood pressure is starting to spike… and she just pulled out a hammer."

"...I'm gonna go home…" Tails groaned as he walked off, picking up his handheld off the couch.

"I'll come with you," was all Nicole said as she became data and went straight into the handheld, a image of her face appearing on the screen.

"Magic…" Knuckles gawked.

-Correction. It is science- Nicole replied.

* * *

As soon as Tails had returned to his house, he saw several of Eggman's robots surrounding the area, and Eggman himself was in his hovercar.

"...Ugh what is it now, Eggman?" the twin tailed fox asked in annoyance, "Can't you see I…"

"I gave you one free day yesterday, but that was because I felt sorry for you. Now…" Eggman began as he pressed a button the console of his hover car, causing it to turn into a mech like suit as it aimed its cannons at him, "I get to destroy you...or use you as bait to beat Sonic."

-That voice…- Nicole muttered -It sounds...familiar…-

"I've had a long day today. Can't you give me another day off?" Tails asked, earning a laser blast in response, nearly hitting him, "I'll take that as a 'no'..."

"Exactly. So if I were you...I'd put up a fight, or run," Eggman warned him

-Sir? Isn't this a bit excessive?- Orbot asked as he and Cubot floated next to him.

"No," Eggman responded, smacking Orbot's head.

-Oh hey… that's the garage next to the trash can we dumped the handheld in!" Cubot remembered.

"Seriously?! You tossed your garbage into mine!" Tails snapped as he glared at Eggman, "Just...seriously?!"

"What?! No! I had the Eggpawns toss it into Sonic's trash! ...or at least I thought they did!"

"And what's worse, you dumped something that is perfectly functional!" Tails added.

"What was functional? All of that was junk that didn't work!"

-...my creator… thought I was unfunctional junk?- Nicole whispered.

"Are you serious?! You tossed out a perfectly good handheld th-"

"Wait..handheld? You mean that thing I worked so hard for, only for Cubot to end up spilling a smoothie on it and my nano-machines?"

"Yea. I fixed her. It was easy!" Tails responded.

"First off… 'I fixed _her_ '? You must really be lonely… and second off, fork it over and I'll leave you alone!" Eggman demanded.

"No! I'm not gonna give back something you abandoned!"

"It was originally my creation, so therefore it's mine!" Eggman countered.

"Stop referring her as 'it'!"

"Well that's what IT is! It's not alive! It's a stupid machine I was going to use to help me gather data on you and your stupid friends, and then destroy you all by exploiting your weaknesses! But I guess I don't need a handheld to see your weakness!"

"And what do you think that would be?!"

"You're so emotional! You're supposed to be the smart one of the group, and yet you let your emotions get in the way of your creations! Not to mention you don't even bother putting up a defense to make sure those idiot friends of yours don't break your stuff!" Eggman told Tails, "And even worse, your girlfriend moves away, so you attach yourself to some handheld as if it was something living and breathing. If that's not being desperate, I don't know what is!"

"I… you…"

"Face it! You're not a genius! You're just a dumb kid who gets overly attached to the first girl he sees!"

Tails had no way to respond to this, mulling over what Eggman had just told him. Before he could say or do anything more, he noticed how hot Nicole's handheld was getting… it was actually starting to boil.

"Ow… ow! Hot! Hot!" Tails yelped as he ended up dropping the handheld.

"Now look what you did! You dropped my…" Eggman began before his mech started to twitch a bit, along with his other machines, "Huh? What…?"

The robots and mech started to fritz and glitch out of control before they completely stopped, smoke coming off them as they dropped to the ground one by one.

"Wh-what's going on?! What's happening to my machines!? Orbot! Cubot!"

-Um...I think something might be wrong with Cubot- Orbot spoke as Cubot glitched out before his head hit one of the downed Badniks, -...uh… are you okay?-

-Peachy keen.- Cubot responded, his voice now being feminine as his eyes changed to a very light purple color.

"...not this again!" Eggman groaned loudly, "I was sure I fixed that problem with his voice chip!"

-No need to worry, this is a non-issue.- Cubot responded.

"Looks like Cubot became a deredere," Tails muttered as he cautiously picked Nicole's handheld up, "Um...Nicole...are you…?"

Before he could finish, data flew straight out of the handheld and flew right towards Eggman, the mad doctor flinching a bit as he shielded himself before it stopped right in front of him. He slowly blinked behind his glasses as he lowered his arms, seeing the mass of data starting to reform into Nicole, a dangerous frown on the lynx' face as she glared at him.

"Hello… _creator_ …" Nicole growled, saying 'creator' like it was poison.

"...the AI is working perfectly right now… not sure what the fox did, but whatever. Alright then, AI, let's get back to my base a-"

"That. Is. Not. My. Name!" Nicole growled as she held her hand out, causing the badniks and Eggman's mech to reactivate before they aimed their weapons right at him.

"Woah woah woah! What're you doing?! I am your creator! You…!" Eggman began.

"You abandoned me. You would've gladly let me be destroyed in an incinerator," Nicole stated as she hovered closer to him, her eyes giving Eggman a venomous glare.

"N...now hold on, AI. I'm sure we ca-" Eggman began before his mech and Badniks readied their blasters.

"That is not my name. My name is Nicole...I was repaired by Miles 'Tails' Prower using the parts _you_ threw away, including the nanites you deemed 'useless'." Nicole stated in a stern, yet unnerving tone.

"And… I may regret asking this later; why are you in some hideous Mobian form? Did you glitch or something?" Eggman asked

"This form to give Tails company," Nicole stated, still glaring at the mad doctor before her, before she turned to Tails, "While you were busy fixing the Tornado, you confided in me every detail on what you like in a girl, and I took down every single note so I can make this body, down to every last detail."

"...thank you," Tails smiled, blushing a bit.

Nicole gave him a small soft smile in return before she glared back at Eggman, "You probably have left me without a face…make me into a cold, soulless machine…"

"...B...but isn't that what you are?"

"No..I am much more than that...while my physical body isn't real, what I got from Tails is real."

-Ulp. Wh...what's that?- Orbot nervously asked.

"...A soul." Nicole responded, "And if you dare bother him again… I can assure you of one thing…" she paused as she leaned in close to Eggman's face, giving him a look that promised one thing...death, "You won't live long enough to see your so called empire fall. Understood?"

"Yes," Eggman meeped as he nodded quickly.

"And now… FIRE!" Nicole shouted, jumping away and having every Badnik fire at Eggman.

"Ahh! Retreat! Retreat!" Eggman yelled as he hopped out of his mech, abandoning his hovercar as he ran for it.

-Sir! Wait for us!- Orbot yelled as he and Cubot flew after him, the latter getting hit right in the head by a stray shard of metal.

-Cubot disapproves of this- Cubot muttered out, the yellow of his body being changed to a more snow-white color.

Nicole then motioned for the Badniks to go hide as she walked over to Tails, the lynx taking a deep breath as she slowly started to calm down, "Sorry about your hand…It's just...he just made me so angry…"

"It...it's fine, Nicole," Tails replied, the twin-tailed fox looking at her in slight awe after seeing what she did, "Though..I gotta ask. How did you…"

"I hacked into his machines," Nicole replied, "The safety program he had installed wasn't that hard honestly."

' _...I think I'm in love,'_ Tails thought as a heavy blush formed on his face.

"...Tails? Are you feeling alright? Your temperature is slightly rising."

"Ahem! I..I'm fine.." Tails cleared his throat as he tried to shake off the blush.

"I see.." Nicole noted, "...Still, apologies for what I did. It's just...well, I am still trying to learn and such...what it truly means to be alive."

"...well, you certainly got anger and kindness down," Tails joked, earning a laugh from Nicole, "And now you got joy."

"Ha ha...so this is joy? Interesting. I..rather like it," Nicole admitted as she smiled a bit.

* * *

Over the next few weeks, Tails had helped Nicole learn more about emotions and how to act more normal. Nicole had become good friends with Amy, and helped her calm down and control her anger..and helped get Dave fired from Meh Burger after finding out he's been taking money from the cash register for himself. With Sonic..she got a bit tired of him trying to hit on her, so she tried introducing him to something called 'online dating'. He was hesitant about it at first, but he eventually met someone by the name of Sakura_Hearts, and they hit it off. As for Knuckles and Sticks? ...well… she had gotten along a bit better with Knuckles, despite him almost breaking her handheld when he tried to sit down, and Sticks...well...she was still a bit hesitant around the paranoid badger, and we'll leave it at that.

Nicole had been staying with Tails the entire time and had the hacked Badniks on standby in case Eggman tried to attack again, but things were relatively quiet for a while. Tails himself had continued to work on building machines, and Nicole was always there to assist him.

One day, Tails had received a letter that had given him a giddy smile.

"Is something up?" Nicole asked.

"My sister is coming by to visit!" Tails said excitedly, "She's on a small vacation from her job as a model, so she figured she stop by my place for a visit!"

"Ahh...I see," Nicole noted, "When will she be arriving if I may ask?"

"...doesn't say," Tails replied as he looked at the letter, "but I do know she'll be coming by this week."

"Well…I do hope that I can get her to do something for me," Nicole smiled as she took out a copy of a picture, "You know that white tiger character she portrays in that cube animal show? ...did she explain why she got the role?"

"She was the only candidate who was white and looked close enough to a tiger," Tails explained.

"..But..isn't she a fox like you?"

"You want her to autograph the picture?"

"Yes," Nicole nodded.

"Cool," Tails smiled, as he looked at a picture of himself and Miyuki.

"...you don't see her much, do you?"

"Not really, no," Tails sighed, "...she wasn't even there when I was born. She vanished without a trace for months… we only met up again when me, Sonic and the others had to go stop that D-Fekt robot Eggman unleashed."

"Oh…"

"Yeah...turns out during that incident, she got something special…"

"Hmm?"

"I don't recall how, but she got the power to control ice and such," Tails explained.

"Well that's… cool," Nicole punned with a slight giggle, "See? That's a thing I learned from Sonic. A pun."

"I see...just make sure not to over do it. Sonic tends to do that sometimes," Tails stated as he put the letter down.

* * *

Later that day, Tails and Nicole were off getting some supplies to build a machine for Sonic's girlfriend, when Nicole noticed a cream-ish white fox, who was dressed in a trenchcoat, glasses, and a large hat.

"...Tails, what does your sister look like again?"

"Creamish white fur, and has nine-tails. Why?"

"I think I just saw her."

Tails looked over where Nicole was pointing at and smiled happily, dashing over and tackled the vixen into a hug, causing her hat and glasses to go flying off.

"Eh? Tails?" the creamish white vixen blinked a bit in surprise from the sudden hug, her ninetails starting to stick out from underneath her trenchcoat.

"Sis! It r-" Tails began excitedly.

"Shh…" the vixen quickly hushed him, "Quiet...nobody's supposed to know I'm here, kyu."

"Then you may want to put these back on, Miss," Nicole told her, picking up the glasses and hat.

"..." the vixen slowly blinked as she slowly touched her head and face, her eyes slightly widening before she snatched the glasses and hat away and put them back on, "Thankyu. ...who is this, anyway?"

"I mentioned her in my letters, this is Nicole," Tails smiled, "Nicole… this is my older sister, Miyuki."

"Ahh…" Nicole noted before she bowed slightly to the nine tailed vixen, "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Same here, kyu," Miyuki replied with a small smile, "...how about we talk someplace else? Talking quietly like this could attract some attention, kyu."

* * *

The three soon returned to Tails' house and the vixen ditched the disguise.

"So you mentioned your best friend's youngest sibling wanted to meet me?" Miyuki asked as she took her hat off, revealing her neck length head fur as a small bang of it hung in front of her left eye, said bang hold up by a ice blue hairband..

"Don't know if she'll get here to see you while your vacation lasts," Tails informed, "I only just got the letter."

"Ahh...well to be honest, I wanted to surprise you, kyu," Miyuki admitted as she took her sunglasses off, "Course, your friend here had to spot me.'

"I apologize for that then," Nicole apologized as she bowed her head a bit.

"So do you live here?" Miyuki curiously asked.

"Yeah."

It suddenly hit Miyuki what the relationship between her brother and Nicole was, and the fact that they're living together…

'...Tails, I'm honestly surprised at you," Miyuki spoke up.

"Huh?"

"The fact that you're living together with a girl is surprisingly mature of you," Miyuki giggled, "Sure, she's… uh… data, I guess would be the best way to put it gently, but still…"

Tails blushed a bit at this while Miyuki giggled and turned to Nicole.

"...I fail to understand what is so funny," Nicole tilted her head in confusion.

"It's nothing much, Nicole. Though I want to talk to you about something…" Miyuki said as she looked over at Tails, "Alone, kyu."

"Alright," Tails shrugged as he headed outside.

"...Is something the matter, miss Miyuki?" Nicole asked curiously once Tails closed the door.

"...I have some questions to ask you," Miyuki spoke up as she looked back at the lynx, a serious look on the nine tailed vixen's face.

"...ok?" she blinked.

"Okay. First...what do you think of Tails personally?"

"He's great… he's smart… he's funny… and really, he uh... gave me my soul."

"...I see…" Miyuki noted, "Second; what're your personal thoughts on him and the things he does?"

"It's all very interesting," Nicole smiled, "I help him with his machines actually."

"Interesting…"

"Yes. His friends are interesting as well..though I don't know what to say about Knuckles and Sticks," Nicole admitted.

"I can see why based on the letters, kyu," Miyuki admitted, "...ahem. Moving on..third; is there any pet peeves you have about him?"

"Pet...peeves?" Nicole blinked

"Things you don't like about him."

"...nothing."

"You sure?"

"...well if I must admit...I wish he wouldn't work so late at night."

"Fair enough," Miyuki nodded in agreement, "Now last question...what're your personal feelings for him?"

"...W...well…" Nicole blushed brightly,"It's...hard to say. I know he's young and everything, but...when I look at him...I gain a sorta burning feeling in my chest. I...start to blush when he gives me that warm smile of his. And… well… I don't know what else to say,"

"...I approve," Miyuki giggled.

"Approve?"

Miyuki said nothing more as she giggled, confusing the lynx further before Tails poked his head in.

"You girls done talking?"

"Yep," Miyuki nodded, "You can come back in now, kyu."

"Okay then," Tails nodded as he walked back in.

* * *

Tails and Nicole sat alone as they looked at the starry night sky, both smiling as they stared at it. The cool night breeze blew through their fur and the beauty of the night seemed to almost entrance them.

"...this is really pretty, isn't it?" Tails asked.

"Yes...it rather is," Nicole nodded as she looked at the night sky..

"Kinda why I work late at night, so I can get this nice image to relax to," Tails admitted.

"Ahh," Nicole noted, scooching a bit closer to him.

"Yeah...Nicole?"

"Yes Tails?"

"Can I...ask you something?"

"Of course, Tails."

"Are you...happy with staying with me?" Tails asked, his tails moving a bit behind him, "You can go somewhere else if you'd like."

"Tails..I really am happy living with you," Nicole replied as she gave him a soft smile, "You repaired me when my 'creator' abandoned me...you gave me a personality and name. In short..you gave me a soul, Tails. And with that, i am truly grateful to you."

Tails blushed and the two hugged as they continued to look at the night sky, stars in the sky forming the number 25…

* * *

 **Happy 25th Anniversary Sonic the Hedgehog**

* * *

Pikatwig: It's upcoming, and since we hadn't finished this, why not say we did it for the 25th anniversary?

SZ: Makes sense. But yeah...we're finally done with this one-shot of ours.

Pikatwig: For the record, we started this in… *checks* February. Ah, the worst month I've had so far this year… and honestly… June's been pretty decent. Sure, I've been lazy, but hey… it's something that happens.

SZ: Yeah...it happens to me too. Plus...I tend to focus a bit too much on my other stories, such as Friendship is Timeless.

Pikatwig: Know the feeling. Anyway… I'll also be doing a one-shot later on… it'll be Taileam actually, and Miyuki will be getting a mention, but won't be appearing in it. But as for the 25th anniversary thing for me… well… it'll be my DA Smash Trailer Series, it'll be either Project: Rush or Project: Unleashed.

SZ: Cool.. Anyways, we hope you all enjoyed this little one-shot of ours.

Pikatwig: My favorite part has got to be the ending bit between Tails and Nicole. While I prefer Taileam, I do honestly think Tails and Nicole are cute.

SZ: Cute. I liked that scene as well. I also liked the interaction between Nicole and Tails before she fully introduced herself to him.

Pikatwig: And thus, we end this off. Just Live More.

SZ: Ja ne, and happy 25th anniversary, Sonic.


End file.
